It is important to protect both material and personnel from catastrophe, especially in cases where the probability of occurrence is greater than the norm. Conventionally, both temporary and permanent means may be used for this purpose, depending on the scenario. For example, a permanent military facility may best be protected by a permanent configuration, whereas a mobile field unit would best be served by a temporary, but not necessarily less effective, configuration. Conventionally, protection against manmade catastrophe, such as occurs in war zones, has been provided with large bulky concrete structures or earthen embankments that require heavy equipment to produce, whether temporary or permanent. Common needs for protective structure may include barriers to prevent personnel access, vehicular intrusion, or even line-of-site access, as well as protective enclosures for emergency response personnel or revetments for high value assets. Because of constraints such as geography, response time, availability of both material and heavy equipment, and the like, select embodiments of the present invention that provide good protection for both personnel and valued assets are of value for protection of military, industrial, community and personal assets.
To protect personnel and assets, organizations such as the military use a variety of protective materials ranging from soil cover to expensive, high-performance, lightweight ballistic ceramics. For the military, a need exists for an inexpensive blast and fragmentation barrier for large-area applications, such as forward facilities, installation and structure perimeters, and both interior and exterior protective upgrades. Certain applications call for panels that may be emplaced on robust platforms, both the modular platform sections and panels being of sufficiently light weight to be man portable. Needs for physical protection exist in the commercial, first responder and consumer communities also, but on a different scale. For example, there is a need for a structure to hold inexpensive protective cladding with superior resistance to wind damage, including penetration of debris generated by natural forces, such as tornadoes and hurricanes.